The impact of improving sustainable food systems.
From the Colombian Amazon to Southern Africa, the Food Action Alliance (FAA), hosted by the World Economic Forum, is transforming the way food is produced, processed, consumed, and disposed of through multistakeholder partnerships and investments.
This work aims to ensure economic and social inclusion with a focus on women and youth, while providing healthy, nutritious, and safe foods in a way that safeguards our planet, conserves natural resources and builds resilience against future shocks.
The Food Action Alliance currently supports a growing portfolio of 19 flagship initiatives that are transforming and improving sustainable food systems. Examples of these projects include:
Transforming the dairy industry in East AfricaRolling out regenerative agriculture models and reducing food waste on farms in ColombiaIncreasing access to digital technologies to boost harvests in South-East Asia
The alliance is working across four hubs in Africa, Latin America, India and South-East Asia. Engaged stakeholders include partners from both the public and private sector, such as: Cargill, UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD), Nestlé, PepsiCo, Rabobank, Syngenta Group, Unilever, UPL, Yara, World Farmers Organization, and WWF.
At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022, the Government of Rwanda joined the Food Action Alliance and stepped forward to co-lead and host the alliance’s global secretariat and regional secretariat for Africa in Kigali.
What’s the challenge with sustainable food systems?
The world may be facing the worst food crisis in decades, driven by the compounded effects of COVID-19, climate change and conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, exacerbating already skyrocketing food and energy prices and severe hunger.
Food systems are complex and currently unsustainable. Enough food is produced to feed the world, but 811 million people — more than 10 per cent of the world’s population — still go to sleep hungry each night.
The global food system is one of the world’s largest sources of greenhouse gases. Globally, food production is linked to 70% of biodiversity loss on land. As the human population grows, these impacts will only increase.
Sustainably nourishing a global population of 9.7 billion by 2050, while meeting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), will require food systems that are inclusive, sustainable, efficient, nutritious and healthy.
Source: World Economic Forum